Guy brought in a trashed VCR and asked me to fix the 'film roll' inside

Had this older gentleman come into my shop in Baltimore last Tuesday holding a VCR like it was a wounded animal. He set it on the counter and said the 'film roll' inside was broken and he needed it fixed for his grandkids Christmas movies. I popped the top off and showed him the tape was just tangled around the capstan, not some actual film reel. He stared at it for a solid 30 seconds and asked if I could splice it like they did in the old projector days. I had to explain VHS tapes don't work that way, they use magnetic tape wound in a cassette. He got a little frustrated but then asked if I could just transfer the movies to a USB stick instead. That was actually doable, so I charged him $40 and he left happy. Has anybody else had customers confuse old analog gear with something from a completely different era?

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emmap166mo ago

The capstan part is close but not quite right. The tape gets tangled around the pinch roller and the head drum, not the capstan itself. The capstan is the metal shaft that works with the pinch roller to pull the tape through. I've seen that exact confusion before though, people think VHS tapes work like reel to reel film. It's actually a pretty common mix up for folks who grew up with projectors. Good on you for finding a way to help him out with the USB transfer, that was a solid solution.

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christopher_kim6mo ago

lol yeah @emmap16 you nailed it, that's the exact common mixup with old projector folks.

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